She broke the kiss. “Ben, I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“We’ll be quiet. Please, I need you.”
That night, I went back to my own cabin, leaving her behind. I wanted her to be with me, but she declined, saying she needed to get some rest. When I arrived home, I realized I was also really tired and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
When I awoke the next morning, Katie was there, sitting on the end of my bed, holding cups of coffee in her hand. I sat up, confused but pleased to find her there.
“Hi, beautiful. Thanks for bringing me coffee.”
“I need to talk to you, Ben.”
Her tone had me worried. “What’s up?”
“I’m going home today.”
I was wide-awake now. “What are you talking about?”
“I should have told you I was planning to leave, but I just wanted to enjoy our time together. I’ve been here for a while now, and I need to return to work. My sister told me the orders are getting out of hand.”
“I don’t know what I’ll do without you here.”
She smiled. “You’ll just have to focus on that hospital now. I hope you understand that I have to leave now.”
I refused to let her see that I was crushed by her leaving. I didn’t understand why she was leaving—I felt like her departure was cold and too sudden. I guess we weren’t on the same page after all.
“Sure, I do. I hope things go well with your orders.” I was hurt that she hadn’t given me any warning about her departure, but I didn’t want to waste these last moments by getting in an argument.
She looked sad as she leaned over to kiss me. “Take care, Ben.”
I watched her walk out of the cabin and out of my life. My heart lurched in my throat. I knew she wasn’t just leaving Africa—she was leaving me too, and I knew I had to get her back.
8
Chapter Eight
Katie
Six Months Later
* * *
It seemed that I was always in a hurry no matter how hard I tried not to be. I felt like a chicken with my head cut off on most days, and that was never a good feeling for anyone. Every day I was filled with stress, and often I felt overloaded, but that was the life of a designer, I supposed. I loved the fashion world, and although it could be stressful at times, I wouldn’t trade my life for anything.
I made my way to the café down the street to get my usual dose of caffeine to help me get through the day. I found I drank a lot of coffee, mainly because I was up late at night working on my designs, and mornings came way too fast. The café was not far from the design studio that I rented, and I always liked to bring back some cupcakes for my team—and this place made the best in the city!
I walked up to the counter and put in my order and tried as best as I could to be patient. I drummed my fingers on the countertop as I waited. I couldn’t get last night’s designs out of my head and wondered if they needed a bit of altering. It certainly wouldn’t hurt, but I was so close to presenting them during fashion week that I didn’t want to lose any time by changing things unnecessarily. Sometimes I could be a perfectionist, and that got me in hot water more often than not.
I had one very exciting thing on my schedule for the day, and just thinking about it boiled up some excitement in me. An order had come in a few weeks ago for a pop star that was looking for a particular design. The deadline was today, and I needed to have the sketches and thumbnails to the pop star that day. She needed a design for the MTV Music Awards that were coming up, and it was a true honor that I had been chosen to do the design. What more could a designer want than to see one of her dresses on a celebrity? It didn’t get much better than that.
It was important that I offered the girl my best possible designs, and it had been something that weighed heavily on my mind all the time. I couldn’t screw it up. This client could bring me to the next level in my career, and my heart beat faster just thinking about it.
It had been six months since I’d returned home from Africa, and it was almost as if it had never happened. It’s funny how being back in the big city could make you forget certain things. The hustle and bustle of the city were nothing like the laid-back living I had found in Malawi. If I thought about it too often, I would find myself going back there mentally, and I missed it. I missed the children, the work that made me feel so fulfilled in many ways, and the people. Since I had been back, I had been working my ass off, and time just seemed to pass by me. I didn’t have a lot of time to dwell on my trip.
It was important to me after seeing how things went in Africa to truly make my own dreams come true. One thing that I had learned during my trip was that life was fleeting and it went by so fast. It was important for me to chase my dreams while I was still young—I felt I owed it to my experience to do my best and to take advantage of all that I could in life.
I refused to believe that I kept myself so busy every hour of the day to try to forget something—or someone. I definitely didn’t enjoy idle time in which I could just sit there and contemplate things. But there were times when I couldn’t help but think about Ben and the time we had shared together. I had not spoken to Ben since I had walked away from him at his cabin. At the time I felt it was what was best for me, and I couldn’t question that decision. Not now. Ben was a man who was troubled in more ways than one. I considered it a fling and nothing more. These things happened when people were away, and they generally didn’t mean anything. I wanted what happened to stay in my past—there was no point in dwelling on that time.
If I were honest with myself, I would admit that maybe the crazy way I had been working lately had more to do with the fact that I was hiding unresolved feelings for Ben—which was completely stupid because we had only known each other for a short amount of time. How could I feel something for him when I’d barely spent enough time with him to get to know him? I refused to believe that I fell for a guy I had just met. Not to mention the fact that the man had never been in a serious relationship in his life—in a moment of weakness shortly after my return, I’d made the mistake of looking him up online. There were more than enough pictures of him with different women paraded around on his arm for me to understand the playboy life he was used to. It was just one more thing that made me question why I would want to shackle myself to a man like that. It was a recipe for disaster.
I had been working my ass off the past six months to disguise the fact that thinking about Ben reminded me of what it had felt like to have his hands on my body. I couldn’t exactly complain though, as working my ass off had really paid off and the company I started had grown significantly. Things were going great, business-wise—I had a great team, and they worked just as hard as I did in making sure my designs were realized. At first, I had been doing all the work myself, and now I had people to whom I could delegate those tasks. It was a liberating feeling, and I couldn’t be happier with the position I was in.
That was the upside to life after Ben. The downside was that I often found myself standing in a coffee line with a zombie expression across my face. I would be laughing, however, if the pop star loved my design and wore it to the show. The pop star could make a garbage bag look good, so if she wore my design it was likely that more orders would just keep piling in.
I smiled at the barista as he handed me the trays of coffee and cupcakes. My team would need it just as much as I did, and I liked taking care of a hardworking team. Getting coffee gave me the same feeling as when I was helping people in Africa—I just liked making people happy. It made my life so much more fulfilling.
When I stepped outside, the sun was beating down so brightly that I had to stop for a moment to take it in. I rarely stopped and took a breath, yet there I was standing in the middle of the sidewalk, just forcing myself to relax and enjoy the sun for a moment. The rays felt good against my skin, and this was one of the rare moments where I was transported back to Africa.
I loved my life—there wasn’t a bad thing about it.
I should be grateful. I also should consider slowing down so I didn’t burn out. There were people in the world dying, so to be stressed about whether my designs would sell or not was a silly thing. After all, life went on—it always did. My future looked bright and successful, so what was I stressing out about? I needed to start living my life as if every day was my last.
I headed toward my office with a new lightness to my step, thinking about how great the day was going to be. I opened the doors to the brightly lit studio. One of the interns made a beeline for me and snatched the trays from my hands.
“Thanks, Becky. It wasn’t easy getting those here. I’m surprised I didn’t drop them.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. I’ve definitely done something like that myself.” Becky brought around the coffee to people and set out the cupcakes for whoever chose to come for them. They would be gone in twenty minutes, I could guarantee it.
“Something came for you today.”
“What is it?”
“No idea. But it looks fancy.”
I laughed. “I can’t imagine what it is. Unless the pop star is trying to inspire me to create faster.”
“I have no idea who it’s from.”
“How mysterious.” I couldn’t imagine who the package would be from—I hadn’t ordered anything lately. I followed Becky to my office, where a box sat on my desk. We both looked down at it, but I still couldn’t determine where it came from. The package was wrapped in paper that could only be described as luxurious, which only further puzzled me.
“I have to tell you, Katie, it looks like it could be a romantic gift.”
“What? Do you think?”
“Just unwrap it, for goodness’ sake. The suspense is killing me.”
“Okay, hold on,” I laughed. I quickly unwrapped the mysterious package to find a gorgeous blue dress sitting there with a diamond necklace on top.
“Oh my god.”
“Hey, there’s a letter in there,” whispered Becky.
“Where?”
“Right there!” Becky was practically yelling at me.
I chuckled. “Easy there, girl, I didn’t see it.”
Becky handed me the letter, and I turned it over to see if there was a name. There wasn’t. I quickly opened the letter to find directions to the hottest French restaurant in town. I was to wear the dress and necklace when I went there tonight at seven.
“Wow. That is so romantic.”
“I have no idea what is going on right now,” I muttered.
“It has to be Matt.”
“Really, you think so?” The thought of Matt sending me a package like this made me grow warm all over. I’d only been seeing him for a short time, but things were progressing nicely.
“Of course—who else could it be? He sent you those flowers the other day too. He’s on a roll.”
“Yeah, but flowers are one thing—this is something else entirely.”
“Sure, but the guy is loaded. It’s not like he can’t afford it.”
I stared down at the letter, wondering. It would be a sweet gesture, but it just seemed too soon for two people who had just started to get to know one another. But maybe Matt was trying to woo me on an extreme level.
“What should I do?”
“You should definitely go.”
“Really? I don’t know.”
“Are you crazy, Katie? If a guy did something like that for me, I would already be on my way over even if I was like ten hours early.”
I laughed. “Yeah, but that’s assuming you think it’s Matt. It could be a stalker waiting at that table for me. Super creepy.”
“Come on. You can’t be serious.”
“Well, it’s not like I haven’t been splashed all over the papers lately. It could be anyone that sent this. To be honest, if it was Matt, I think it would say so.”
“Whoa, Katie, you are way over-thinking this one. Yes, it’s only been a week since you met Matt, but he’s been contacting you nonstop ever since. He could just be doing a romantic gesture.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Maybe I am overreacting.”
“Well, I’ll leave you to it. I need to drink my coffee and get back to work. I’m swamped.”
“Yes, please do. You really help keep things afloat.”
I sat down at my desk and started to sift through some paperwork. I kept looking up at the box, unable to concentrate. Who sent that beautiful dress? I picked up the letter again, reading it over. I then touched the fabric of the dress. There was one thing I could tell for sure—it was expensive material, and the necklace was on a whole other level entirely. Becky had been right about one thing, the package had been fancy. I just wasn’t sure Matt was behind it.
Thinking about Matt always brought a smile to my face. I really liked the guy, but I didn’t think he would make such a grand gesture, especially so soon. So far we always had a great time together, so maybe I was underestimating his attraction to me. Maybe he was all about the grand gesture.
I met Matt while attending an AIDS gala fundraiser. Since leaving Africa, I wanted to be more involved in the cause. I may not be building schools or teaching students, but I still wanted to be part of the cause and lend a hand where I could now that I was home. I had allowed one of my dresses to be auctioned off for the cause, and it had sold for almost $10,000. That was nothing to sneeze at. I ended up meeting Matt because he had been seated at the same table as I was. He was tall, dark, and hard all over—very hard to resist. He was a little older than I was, but I didn’t mind at all. He owned one of the major football teams in the area and was quite successful. I had a hard time not thinking about him.
We had spent the better part of the evening talking and laughing together. Later on that night, the organizer had confessed that Matt had asked to sit at my table. I had been surprised but deeply flattered. I had never met a kinder and more thoughtful man, and spending time with him had been a real treat. I couldn’t have had more fun that night, and I doubted that I would have had as good a time had he not been there to entertain me.
He had asked me out that night, and we had dinner the next evening. We’d been talking nonstop ever since. After that first date, I had been sure that there was a reason that Matt had been brought into my life. I could really believe that he might be the one. Or was I talking crazy as well? We had only met a week ago, but then this box arrived. What did it mean?
Matt was a sexy, successful, and kind man—I should snap him up while I could. Although he was one hell of a sexy guy, we had yet to sleep together. Not that I wanted to rush things—I was fine with how things were going.
I made my decision. I was going to go to the restaurant to meet that mystery man.
9
Chapter Nine
Katie
I drank a glass of wine as I got ready for my mystery date. It was a good way to relax before I went to meet whoever was waiting for me. It was probably Matt—I mean, who else would send such an extravagant gift?
Overall the day had gone marvelously well. The sketches had been completed on time and sent over to the pop star for approval. Just sending the sketches had been so exciting. I was really doing it—doing what I loved and making strides toward realizing my dreams. At least the stress of those sketches was a thing of the past. Now I just had to wait for the final approval and the dress could be made.
I looked in the mirror and spun around. The dress was tight-fitting and showed off my curves. Whoever bought the dress knew my size and knew what I liked because I looked like a fox in it. It made me wonder how on earth Matt would know my size so well when he had never even seen me naked. Had he just guessed? I slipped on the diamond necklace and attached the clasp, feeling the heaviness of the necklace against my chest.
I looked in the mirror again and smiled. Damn, I looked good. That necklace was stunning, and it complemented the dress so well. I couldn’t wait to get to the restaurant and show Matt what I looked like in the items he had so carefully picked out for me.
He would be thrilled—the look on his face alone would be priceless. I decided to put on my sexiest pair of lace panties that evening, just in case he felt inspired after he saw me. If he did feel so inspired, he would get a night that he wouldn’t soon forget.
I decided it was best to take a cab to the restaurant since I wasn’t entirely sure what would be happening afterward. If nothing happened it would take nothing to cab back home. I didn’t really want to worry about driving if I was having a few drinks either.
When I arrived, I stepped into the high-class restaurant and looked toward the host. My heart was beating in my chest like crazy. It was the kind of restaurant that took months to get a reservation, and it had been some time since I had been there. Whoever sent the dress definitely had some connections.
The host approached me, and I announced that I was meeting an unknown visitor. The hostess took my name and smiled as she led the way to my table. I tried to steady my heart, but it was raging out of control and there was nothing that I could do about it. I was being seated out on the terrace, and when I approached the table, there was no one there yet. The plot thickened even more. They were literally the best seats in the house, looking out into the evening stars. It took my breath away.
I looked around the restaurant to see if I could see Matt coming in. I wanted to be all smiles for him. What I did not expect was to see Ben walking toward me. My mouth hit the floor, and not in a flattering way. He had a shit-eating grin on his face, and suddenly everything was coming into focus. Shit, what was he doing there?
I had forgotten just how handsome Ben actually was, but it all came screaming back as he approached me. I hadn’t seen him since Africa, and seeing Ben in front of me then had me reliving every moment we spent together in my head. He wasn’t even that close to me, and yet my body temperature rose just at the sight of him. He was, after all, still the only man that had ever given me an orgasm.
The Promise of Love Page 7